First, I am not the director of BIEMS, nor am I in charge of anything except education for BIEMS, but I find it really interesting that starting rumors and repeating rumors to scare people seems to be the current strategy of some on Beaver Island. I have taught EMS classes since 1989, and I have given 28 years of my life to providing EMS right here on Beaver Island. I am tired of rumors. If you have questions, ask the director of EMS the questions and listen to the answers.
This is an article from News on the 'Net posted two weeks ago. This was written by Joe Moore.
"Rumors About Emergency Transport
Rumor #1: There is a rumor going around that suggests that an emergency patient does not have any choice about how and where he/she will be transported. This is not a true statement. Every single emergency patient who is able to make a decision about how and where they are to be transported, will be transported how and where they want to go. It may involve a discussion with family and the medical control physician, but the final decision is with the patient. Yes, BIEMS will transport you to the medical center if that is where you want to go. It may be suggested that you go to another destination, such as Charlevoix Hospital, McLaren Northern Michigan, or Munson Hospital; but the choice is still yours to make. You may be asked to sign a special release, but you still get to go where you want to go, as long as you are alert enough to make that decision.
Rumor #2: Another rumor going around is that there is a conflict between the medical center and the local EMS. The local EMS group must follow the laws of the State of Michigan, the administrative rules for that law, and the State of Michigan Model EMS Protocols as approved by the Charlevoix County Medical Control Authority. This includes written physician orders for many aspects of emergency medical care that EMS must follow including assessments and treatments as well as recommended transport destination. The local EMS group is licensed by the State of Michigan to provide emergency medical transport. These license requirements and the written physician orders are required to be followed unless other orders are received from the medical control physician. The assessments and treatments can be refused by any patient capable of making that decision. There will be a continuity of excellent patient care offered to every emergency medical patient by the local EMS agency.
Rumor #3: Taking the locally licensed emergency medical air transport will cost more than using an off-Island air transport service. This is also false. The local air transport vehicle is leased by the local EMS with aircraft and pilot provided by Island Airways. BIEMS accepts all insurance plans and participates in most insurance plans including Medicaid and Medicare. Valley Med out of Iron Mountain also accepts the same insurance plans and also participates in Medicaid and Medicare. The only out of pocket costs for either service is the co-pay required by either insurance companies or Medicaid or Medicare. BIEMS accepts the payments from insurance companies, Medicaid, and Medicare as payments in full. Northflight Air out of Traverse City state that they also participate, but previous experience with Northflight was the reason for licensing a local air transport vehicle.
Rumor #4: Valley Med and Northflight can provide a higher standard of care than our locally licensed air transport. This is also false. The same level of emergency prehospital emergency care is provided in the local ambulance and in the locally licensed air transport vehicle as is available in either of the other two operations. In most emergencies in the last twenty-eight years, critical care transport paramedics and nurses were not necessary. They may be necessary in a patient transfer from one licensed hospital to another licensed hospital, but the efficient transport time provided by the locally licensed air transport gets the patient to the definitive care facility in a much shorter period of time, is provided by friends and neighbors by the same license level in prehospital care, and fits into an emergency medical system that has twenty-eight years of experience right here on Beaver Island.
Rumor #5: I can refuse local EMS transport without them ever being called. This is true, but why would you not want to give yourself the benefit of the physician-directed, efficient emergency transport system designed and adapted over twenty-eight years to fit Beaver Island, and operated by your friends and neighbors? Why would you not want the excellent patient care requirements, fitted to your personal situation? Do you not want the assessments, monitoring, and treatments recommended by the emergency physicians throughout the State of Michigan? Did you know that the paramedics on Beaver Island passed the same certification and licensing requirements as paramedics in any major city of the United States? Did you know that many nationally accepted patient care standards for specific emergencies were actually special study assessments and treatments tested right here on Beaver Island? These included automatic external defibrillation, Epi-Pen administration for severe allergic reactions, and intravenous administration of dextrose for low blood sugar in diabetics. Some others include the training and certification of medical first responders and Basic EMTs to insert an advanced airway called a Combitube or double-lumen airway, new requirements of first responders and EMTs to provide Narcan to possible drug overdoses, as well as the administration of aspirin and nitroglycerin by EMTs for chest pain patients. All of these were done on Beaver Island prior to their general acceptance in the field of basic prehospital emergency care."
Rumors About Emergency Medical Transport
Moderator: Gillespie